Year 3 Final Competition is underway

We have arrived in Milford, Michigan to begin final competition at General Motor’s Milford Proving Grounds. Our car left Starkville on Monday, May 26, and we were reunited with it today.

The team just before leaving Starkville.

When the car arrived earlier this week, some of GM’s technicians looked the car over and gave it a safety inspection. When we arrived today, those technicians went over apparent and potential problems we will need to correct. We weren’t allowed to work on the car today, so we will start tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. sharp (keep in mind we are in the Eastern Time Zone).

We receive competition points by performing in dynamic events that test our car’s drivability, acceleration, emissions, energy consumption, consumer acceptability and many other categories. Before we can participate in these events, our team must pass the safety inspections. For MSU, it is just a few minor things we need to work on: tightening a mount to reduce sway, a little leak here and there, and things like that. We should be ready to participate in events by Tuesday afternoon.

“We are really excited to get started working on the car tomorrow,” Team Leader Lee Sargent said. “We’ve got a few things to work on, but we have a very capable group. I’m confident we will move past safety tech quickly.”

We will finish off today with a welcoming ceremony. Each of the teams made a skit video for tonight. We will all relax, share a few laughs, and enjoy a few last moments of peace before we hit the ground running tomorrow.

It’s going to be a great week. Our team is energetic, excited, and hopeful. Keep an eye on our Twitter

and Facebook pages. We will keep you up-to-date on how competition is going.